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On the relation between explosive cyclones affecting Europe and the North Atlantic Oscillation
Author(s) -
Gómara Iñigo,
RodríguezFonseca Belén,
ZuritaGotor Pablo,
Pinto Joaquim G.
Publication year - 2014
Publication title -
geophysical research letters
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 2.007
H-Index - 273
eISSN - 1944-8007
pISSN - 0094-8276
DOI - 10.1002/2014gl059647
Subject(s) - north atlantic oscillation , explosive material , storm , climatology , environmental science , extratropical cyclone , winter storm , cyclone (programming language) , cyclogenesis , geology , geography , oceanography , archaeology , field programmable gate array , computer science , computer hardware
Intense winter cyclones often lead to hazardous weather over Europe. Previous studies have pointed to a link between the North Atlantic Oscillation (NAO) and strong European windstorms. However, the robustness of this relation for cyclones of varying intensities remains largely unexplored. In this paper, the bi‐directional relation between the NAO and cyclones impacting Europe is analyzed for the period 1950–2010 focusing on the sensitivity to storm intensity. Evidence is given that explosive (EC) and non‐explosive cyclones (NoEC) predominantly develop under different large‐scale circulation conditions over the North Atlantic. Whereas NoEC evolve more frequently under negative and neutral NAO phases, the number of EC is larger under a positive NAO phase, typically characterized by an intensified jet toward Western Europe. Important differences are also found on the dynamics of NAO evolution after peak intensity for both cyclone populations.